Randy Dean's E-Learning Academy

This is an activated self-study PDF file.  What does that mean?  Simple -- it has not only references to the slides you may remember from the live or streaming session of Taming the E-mail Beast you attended, but then it also has additional relevant discussion, links to related articles by myself and other authors, book recommendations if you want to continue your learning further, and, perhaps most important, links to my related YouTube tutorial videos.  Thus, you can most likely see again that key tip you remember from the session in short video tutorial form, so you can best master the skills.

Note: As you can see above, this post-program self-study guide was designed for those that have already attended one of my Taming E-mail courses.  If you are considering purchasing  this guide without attending one of these courses, I might recommend you consider upgrading your purchase to the Taming the E-mail Beast webinar replay available on my e-Learning Academy.  You could watch one of the several available webinar replays depending on whether you use MS Outlook, Gmail, or both.  That will give you a good overview of the key strategies and techniques, and then you could use this e-guide to really start mastering these e-mail management, productivity, and efficiency skills.

I have set the file up to be downloaded 

I wanted to make it so you could view the e-guide from your preferred device -- computer, tablet, even phone (although a phone screen might be a bit small to see the tech demos as well).  If you download to your computer or device and open in Adobe Acrobat Reader, once open, I recommend you use the keystroke combo CTRL+H to view the e-book in the Adobe "Read" view -- that will be closer to a true e-book experience.

Copyright Statement: Since this file is downloadable, yes, that means you could potentially share it with others.  I have put a bit of a unique Copyright Statement in the front of the guide that I’d like you to review.  I won’t be terribly bothered if you share with a friend or family member or two – it helps them find out about me and my work.  However, if you are an organizational decision maker, training developer, training leader, or with a professional group or association, I do require that you contact me and secure appropriate licensing before sharing this guide broadly with others.  There are several options to do this that would be quite affordable on a per-person basis, so please contact me at [email protected] to learn more, especially if we have worked together in the past.  I will provide a very good deal to past clients to get this guide to those that have already taken this course.

This guide will work best if you have a live internet connection

As stated above, the guide has links to numerous external resources, including articles by me and other writers/experts, book suggestions, and links to my YouTube tutorials.Obviously, those will only work with a live internet connection.  I will remind you that with the YouTube tutorials, you can use pause and rewind to learn and master your skills at your pace. 

One REALLY nice thing about this format!

Part of the reason I moved to this model of content delivery is that I realized that when writing a normal book, the second it is printed, it is obsolete.  That is even more true when you provide technology tips in the latest versions of popular software tools and devices.  I’ve actually struggled a bit in terms of figuring out the best way to put this information together and keep it timely. But this format, rather than working through a formal publishing firm, gives me needed flexibility and timeliness.  

I can update this guide on the fly as software or devices change, and then post a new version of the guide.  It is more like a "software update" model than a "published book" model.  As such, if you purchase this guide, you may want to periodically check in for new updates.  Just by going through this process of creating this first guide, I’ve already identified several new YouTube videos I’d like to create.  This current version is marked as Version 2.0 (Version 1.0 was a marked up basic PDF handouts file!), but I’m already planning an update to Version 2.5 with those new videos very soon.  Check back periodically after your purchase to see if updates are available.

Here are the topics covered in the guide (very similar to what is covered in my live on-site and webinar courses):

- The current statistics of e-mail usage and distraction (and the relevance to YOUR job)

- How to handle regular incoming e-mails

- How to handle e-mails when dealing with a crisis

- How to convert e-mails into task, calendar, and contact items in MS Outlook and Gmail

- How to automate recurring messages and repeating text using tools like Templates, Signatures, and Quick Parts

- How to reduce e-mail distraction by setting up Rules and Filters to identify your most important senders/messages

- Setting up a time-based regimen for checking e-mail that matches your competing priorities of "quick response" with your needs for deeper focus/productivity

- The different strategies for file folder management in your inbox (including search, sort, and filtering options)

- How to clean up a messy inbox (and even a messy desk!) with speed and efficiency

- A few tips on e-mail etiquette, composition, better subject lines, smarter e-mails, and more

- And a few tips on how to reduce and handle the junk & spam messages you are receiving

YES, this guide could really help build out your e-mail efficiency and productivity skills and mastery!

More e-guides like this are coming

This is my prototype, and I wanted to do my Taming the E-mail Beast course first as it has been my most popular program for many years.  But I’m planning to build more of these e-guides through the coming next year or so, likely starting with my Optimizing Your MS Outlook, my Smart Phone Success, and my Time Management in “The Cloud” Using Gmail/Google courses.  If you purchase any of those programs, you will be notified when those programs come online.  I will also be posting announcements to my social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as for those that are subscribers to my free monthly e-newsletter, Timely Tips, which features one time-saving tip per month (often tech related), one app that I believe helps with productivity, and one “life hack” for better personal productivity.  If are not a subscriber already and you’d like to subscribe, send me an e-mail at [email protected] with the subject line “Timely Tips Please”, and I will get you set up.